Alterations of Time
by passion assassin
Summary: Maita is a fallen angel. Arya has a sister who loves their enemy, vampires, and a new Rider changes Murtagh's stance in the war. Two half-brothers' lives are flipped around, and new powers threaten Galbatorix's reign in Alagasia forever.
1. Looks and Questions

"No." With an air of finality, Murtagh turned away. A woman stood beside him, dark eyes indignantly flashing and black-red hair tossing in the wind. She felt her mind wander to his wind-blown brown hair, black tight shirt, and legs defined beneath midnight leather. Fiercely pushing the thoughts away in her walled mind, she bit back, "Why? You don't even understand-"

"-don't understand?" Murtagh whipped around to fix his burning gaze upon her. "You do not know who I am, what I've done!" He drew Zar'roc, the ruby red blade sinisterly reflecting the sun. "How many do you think this blade has slain?" He demanded with forceful bitterness.

The woman unsheathed her own sword from her left hip. "Oh? How many do you believe Andlat has slaughtered? You know well that Andlat means death just as Zar'roc means misery! You are not nearly twice my age, as you claim!" Her swordsmanship would not have failed her if her eyes were not blinded with frustration, fury, and desperation. It was not five minutes before Murtagh pinned her to the grass. He restrained emotion from his voice.

"Give up, Maita. It will never happen." She focused her hard brown eyes on his, blinking away the salty liquid. "Too late. Galbatorix has ordered you to train me, and I have sworn never to eradicate you from my life." Stepping away, Murtagh swore and sheathed his sword with a deafening click. Several trees exploded into flames, and two dragons soared down beside them. Both were observing the situation from their respective Riders' points of view.

"So when shall we meet tomorrow?" Maita asked calmly, her eyes shining with sweet victory. "Sunrise," came her snarling reply. _"Do not be late!" _Murtagh mounted Thorn and flew away. Veka and Maita watched them go before doing the same. {An intense argument,} the azure blue dragon bared her teeth in a pearly grin as her white and silver belly sparkled. With a roll her eyes and barely moving her lips, the Rider replied, "Very."

Veka crouched, then propelled herself into the air. Maita merged her mind with her dragon's so they could share thoughts. {I don't believe I have seen him so angry before. Why?} {He cares for your safety. Murtagh doesn't want you to swear fealty to Galbatorix.} {That is not what matters! I want him to care for me, to hell with my safety!} Veka merely glided silently, listening with mild disapproval at her Rider's crude speech. Pausing her rant, Maita drew a diamond-encrusted mirror from her black and gold belt.

Her black hair was twisted back against her head, auburn streaks shining, and her usually off-center part was pulled back for training. Her reflection glared at her with slanted, narrow eyes and a strongly set jaw, full pink lips tense. {I doubt he finds flaw in your appearance,} Veka thought quietly. "And if he prefers elven features?"

Maita wondered aloud. {I think not. With his temperament, do you not believe that smooth talk and features will drive him insane? Ita…} Maita rolled her eyes at the irritating abbreviation. {All the same…you have yet to feel firsthand rejection.} She sniffed. {And this worsens, because it is the first time for me, as you well know!}

They soared far from the training grounds near Gil'ead to their house of sorts beside Isenstar. Deep in its depths was where Maita had found Veka, who then chose and marked her with a gedwey ignasia encircling her upper right arm. Sliding to the ground, she walked into their home. They had constructed a cave from a clearing between two vast, white trees that served well as pillars. Combining their strength and knowledge attained from the elves, they had built walls and floors of quartz with linings of pure silver.

A thick wall of glass guarded the entrance from admitting any but Maita, Veka, and those they trusted to enter. Maita had been taken in by the elves as a child and trained: when she discovered Veka's egg, and became a Rider, they were convinced that she had joined Galbatorix and exiled her.


	2. Untrained

It was a difficult task for Maita to occupy herself. After a half hour of pacing and thinking, she decided to bathe. It was mid-afternoon, she noticed as she filled the marble-coated depression with water from pipes from the lake. She held her gem-beaded curtain back for Veka to heat the water with a gout of silver fire.

{Do you want to sunbathe?} Asked a submerged Maita. {We may as well relax now, since we will not tomorrow.} Veka made a noise of agreement before exiting.

Maita poked her head and arms out of the foamy water and lifted her mirror from the floor. {Draumr Kopa} She saw only darkness, but silently summoned more words from the ancient language to break the ward enchantments. {Letta du vanyali sem blothr pomnuria.} Feeling strained, she drew on additional strength from her diamond cross necklace. Then, Maita froze. All that she could see was his face.

And Murtagh was staring directly back at her. "So I see you can break scrying spells," he said. "I'll exempt you from the enchantment so you don't die of exertion in the future, but I'll always know."

Maita withdrew her concentration and found herself staring at her reflection once more. {How much did he see?} asked Veka smugly. Her only reply was a moan as Maita submerged once again.

{I think he saw a bit lower than the average cleavage.} Veka smirked in her mind.

Ten minutes before sunrise, both Murtagh and Maita were at the training grounds. Veka wore a saddle to carry Maita's white bow, black raven-feathered arrows, and various items for the event. "You will begin with telling me what you know and who it was taught by." Veka and Thorn sat together watchfully, quite as ease with each other despite their Riders' extreme personality differences and opposition.

Maita thought quickly, summarizing and editing her experiences. "I was raised by Anya and Tarrion, who raised me as well. They taught me many things, including how to use a bow and arrows, spears, swords, twin daggers, stars. Anya made me fluent in the ancient language, to speak, to read, to write. Tarrion instructed me to fortify my mind, attack with magic, and kill." Murtagh wasn't convinced. "Lies. Tell me everything."

Maita started to protest, before her mouth twisted into a smirk. Veka and Thorn raced overhead, perfecting endurance. Speaking in the ancient language, as she knew he wanted her to, she repeated her words and added, "They also taught me hygiene, enforced a diet, showed me the geography of every known area closeby, and detailed anatomy of a dragon, and general human/elf. Weak points and stimulations." Veka arrowed upward with Thorn closeby to laugh loudly into the sky. Observing his almost stoic face, she stated, "You don't trust me."

"Soon enough, you will learn to trust no one."

{Soon enough, we will share a mutual trust} vowed Maita silently, deducting that they would speak the ancient language while training.

{Careful!} Veka warned. {Guard your foolish feelings, young one! You could make this the end of us!} Maita did not answer, but irately shot five times at a target with her scarlet-shafted arrows, hitting the dead center every time. Murtagh threw seven sharpened discs at her, and she countered them with seven stars. "Draw your twin blades."

Murtagh waited boredly as Maita drew two thin blades matching Veka's blue scales, as Andlat matched her silver ones. She lunged forward, using one sword to attack and one to defend. She soon proceeded to cross them to counter a single blow. Flipping back, she stabbed neatly at his neck and stomach. She ducked a slice at her neck, but not before Murtagh cut her cheek. Her blades flew recklessly at him from her hands, grazing his jaw and cutting his shoulder. Maita dove for them, but felt a cold blade press against the base of her neck as she gripped the hilts.

"Dead," Murtagh breathed briefly into her ear, the air tickling the back of her neck before sheathing his sword with a flick of his wrist. Maita held in a noise of indignance before doing the same, pulling energy from everything around her, save Thorn and Murtagh, to replenish her strength.


End file.
